Jiang Dai went to rest. Chen Ci stood at the entrance and took a general look around. The house was located in a slum and had a limited area, but it was tidy and not crowded.
He walked into Chen Nian's bedroom, closed the door gently, and sat down beside the bed.
The quilt was in a mess, obviously its owner had just thrown it aside and left when he got up this morning.
The bed was stained with the scent of tuberose, which was the pheromone left by Chen Niancan, the same scent as Chen Ci.
The windows were locked with several security locks and were tightly shut, but one could still vaguely hear the noise coming from outside.
The sound of water dripping from the joints of the pipes never stops, and together with the low roar of the running motors, it has become the "white noise" here.
The windows were tightly covered with curtains and protected with special locks, otherwise it would be hard to say whether an Alpha would crawl in through them.
Chen Nian's desk was also not very tidy, with all kinds of messy things piled together and an old-fashioned optical computer buried underneath.
Chen Ci threw the empty bag of snacks on the table into the trash can, and then straightened out the tangled data cables one by one.
It's not nice to touch other people's things casually, but he has to live here for five days, and Chen Ci doesn't want to endure a messy table all the time during this time.
After all, from the moment their identities were exchanged, this place became his room.
After spending some time tidying up the table, Chen Ci stacked up the small cards he found in various corners and put them in the drawer.
The cards were mostly colorful business cards with contact information of different people written on them, which were stuffed into the Omega's pocket in a joking manner.
Chen Nian habitually threw them away, but now Chen Ci collected them again.
There was a small freezer in the corner. Chen Ci squatted down and studied it briefly. He tried to turn the mechanical disk and entered the password that Chen Nian had told him.
The cabinet was opened, white cold air came out, and inside were two bottles of Omega inhibitors.
A powerful inhibitor, a brand of a large pharmaceutical company.
It is not as good as the special inhibitor used by Chen Ci, but it is already the most effective one available on the market.
Chen Ci closed the freezer, sat back on the bed, and had a general understanding of Chen Nian's living conditions.
Chen Nian does not live a wealthy life, and the purchase of medicines accounts for a large part of the family's expenses.
He is a top Omega who is naturally attracted to Alphas. He must use the best inhibitors, and Chen Nian never dares to save money in this regard.
The medicines Jiang Dai needs to take are not cheap either. If the two of them want to save some money, they can only find ways to increase their income.
So even though Jiang Dai's eyesight has deteriorated significantly, he still insists on doing his translation work.
As for Chen Nian’s work…
Chen Ci looked down at the terminal. While still in the bathroom of the bell tower, Chen Nian had hurriedly asked for leave from work, and now his boss had just sent him a reply.
It was obvious that the boss was not happy, but no matter what his attitude was towards the five-day leave, Chen Nian had already made the decision.
It is impossible for Chen Ci to go to work in his place, otherwise it would be too easy to be exposed.
There shouldn't be anything to do now.
Chen Ci lay down on the bed silently, finally getting some rest. He had been accustomed to the same fixed routine for more than ten years, and was now extremely sleepy.
A strange bed, a strange room, a strange dungeon.
Chen Ci was not as attached to the bed as imagined. He closed his eyes and quickly became drowsy in the lingering scent of tuberose.
A lot of things happened today.
While half asleep and half awake, the terminal vibrated twice in succession, but was ignored in an instant.
This sleep was even more sound than in the White Tower.
When Chen Ci opened his eyes and saw a pitch-black bedroom, he was stunned for two seconds before realizing that he was in a dungeon.
There is no sunlight here, so of course there is no afternoon gloom.
It was now past four o'clock, and Chen Ci was in no hurry to get up. He lay on his side on the bed, looking through the curtains at the dim lights outside. The sound of water drops was still ringing.
There were several unread messages on the terminal, and one of them kept asking him "where have you been?". It should be the Alpha who brought Chen Nian up this morning.
Chen Ci thought for a moment and sent a message: [Already home.]
The other party quickly replied: [Are you back? That's good. You disappeared in the blink of an eye this morning. I searched for you for a long time but couldn't find you. I sent you a message but there was no response.]
Soon another message came: [I will come to see you in the evening? ]
Of course Chen Ci couldn't let the other party come. He didn't even know Alpha's last name or first name. Chen Nian didn't tell him at all.
He flipped through the chat records, trying to imitate Chen Nian as much as possible to reject the other party.
Chen Nian seems to have a special relationship with Alpha, and the words they exchanged in just a few words are quite ambiguous.
Is this someone from Chen Nian? Why is there no note?
To be on the safe side, Chen Ci took another look at the chat records between Chen Nian and others.
The same ambiguous words and teasing, malicious invitations, and pictures with blurred light sent in the early morning.
Chen Ci: …………
With the overwhelming evidence before him, Chen Ci had some difficulty accepting the fact—Chen Nian was maintaining ambiguous relationships with many Alphas at the same time.
No wonder Chen Nian told him not to pay any attention if someone came up to him and wanted to talk to him.
Because there were too many Alphas trying to get close, including the thugs who were taught a lesson by Chen in the alley a few hours ago.
Chen Ci hesitated for a moment, then imitated Chen Nian's style and replied: [It may not be possible tonight... Uncle Jiang asked me to help him fix something at home. It would be bad if I sneaked out and was discovered. Let's find a time that is convenient for both of us another day.]
[Anyway, thank you for taking me up there. I haven’t been this happy for a long time;)]
Drake was of course unhappy that he had taken the opportunity of watching the parade together to completely mess up Chen Nian's plan.
In the past, Chen Nian would coax him with false affection and soothe his emotions, but now the one holding the final say is Chen Ci.
Chen Ci didn't read what Drake posted. He got up from the bed and wanted to change his clothes.
He'd had enough of the form-fitting halter tops and low-slung jeans.
After opening the closet, Chen Ci fell silent.
Looking at those strange costumes, he realized belatedly that Chen Nian might have worn the most normal clothes to watch the parade.
Chen Ci looked through the clothes with large areas of hollowing out, extremely thin fabrics, and laser sequins one by one, and finally found a wrinkled gray sports suit from the corner.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and a few minutes later, he successfully found a normal style yellow and black striped shirt.
After Chen Ci put on his shirt and sportswear, he finally felt a lot more comfortable. At least his back was no longer cold and his pants didn't seem to fall down all the time.
When Chen Ci walked out of the bedroom, Jiang Dai had already woken up and was working in the study. Chen Ci did not disturb him. He quietly released his mental power, and after some exploration, he took it back.
Chen Ci confirmed that Jiang Dai was the housekeeper of that year, Chen Dai.
After risking his life to rescue Chen Nian from the sea of fire, the butler came to the underground city and changed his name to Jiang Dai, which was the surname of his deceased wife.
After the turmoil ended, he never went back and kept Chen Nian's life story a secret, otherwise he would not have lived a poor life in the slums.
Chen Ci could guess some of the specific reasons, but one thing was certain: everything Jiang Dai did was for Chen Nian.
This is the person who has raised Chen Nian for eighteen years. If he is not careful, he might be exposed. Chen Ci decided to reduce contact with Jiang Dai as much as possible to reduce the risk of being discovered.
In the five days before he is changed back, he can hang out more.
But I have to solve the dinner problem first, otherwise I will only have ten cents on me and I will go out hungry.
It's not like he can always meet kind people who will invite him to dinner.
Chen Ci walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and counted the ingredients. Making a dinner was easy for him. Cooking was a course he had to learn as the future prince's consort.
At the same time.
Cinnabar Processor Top Floor, Royal White Tower.
"Your Highness, what did you say?" the maid asked in surprise, making sure she had not misheard.
"No way?" Chen Nian raised his eyebrows, "Then forget it."
"Yes, of course." The maid hurriedly said, "I'll go get it ready. Is there anything else you need?"
“Not for now.”
The maid went to prepare, and Chen Nian was the only one left in the large bedroom.
After lunch, Chen Nian simply followed Shafley's guess and pretended to be unwell but still trying hard. When the other party suggested sending him back, he refused on the grounds that he did not want to delay Shafley's time.
Chen Nian knows exactly what will poke the Alphas in the heart. The Bai Lian look of being sensible and persistent even though she is clearly in pain is just the most basic.
The two of them were forcibly tied together by a marriage contract. They were AOs who couldn't even smell each other's pheromones. Even though they were now troubled by the passion of their Omegas, they had to endure it silently and get through it alone.
His brows were slightly furrowed, his fingers were constantly curled up and then forced to relax, his lips seemed to have lost their color, but his cheeks were abnormally red.
Omega refused so nonchalantly, as if he didn't expect to get any help from him at all.
No, strictly speaking, Chen Ci asked him for help, and he adhered to the scientific attitude and asked Chen Ci to drink more hot water.
Shafulai no longer insisted and said nothing, but from the few glances he received, Chen Nian was certain that he was being condemned in his heart.
The goal was successfully achieved. It seems that this scumbag is not that good after all.
The maid returned soon, and together with the other waiters, brought what Chen Nian needed. After waking up from her nap, Her Royal Highness the Princess wanted to take a bath.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with just taking a bath, but what really surprised the maid was that Chen Ci said he wanted to take a bath with red wine.
Agnes has been working in the White Tower for three years and has always been by Chen Ci's side, taking care of his food and daily life. This is the first time she has heard such a request from him.
In aristocratic circles, bathing in red wine is not a strange thing, but when it is brought up in this context, it seems quite rare.
Although Chen Cigui was an elector and a princess, she was very easy to serve and had none of the temper and strange habits of other nobles.
He never made any extra requests, everything was arranged by the smart butler and the waiters just had to do it.
And now he suddenly suggested taking a red wine bath. Agnes was rather skeptical, and only had one thought in her mind:
It's a rare opportunity for His Highness to make a request, so she has to do it.
Pour the grape leaf extract and the wine trough after squeezing red grapes into porcelain, add 62° hot water for soaking, and when the water gradually turns red, drip in the handmade essential oil extracted from precious flower buds.
Agnes waited until the essence was fully dissolved before adding the mixed liquid into the bathtub.
The mixed liquid fell, and the wine red color spread in all directions, eventually dyeing all the clean water in the bathtub.
The water temperature in the bathtub will remain constant at all times, and Agnes took the red wine from the other waiters.
This bottle of "Ship of Theseus" is a royal collection. It is the same age as Chen Ci and was given to Chen Ci at his coming-of-age ceremony.
The cork was pulled out, and the wine that had spent eighteen years in the oak barrel was poured into the bathtub as the final "condiment".
The smell of alcohol filled the air, and Chen Nian knew it was definitely good wine just by smelling it.
Agnes only poured half of it into the bathtub; the rest would be poured into a goblet for him to drink.
The waiters left and Chen Nian took off all his clothes. The thin shirt slipped from his shoulders to the ground and was picked up silently by the mechanical arm.
He first lifted his foot to test the temperature, and his toes lightly touched the water surface, causing faint ripples.
After making sure the temperature was just right, Chen Nianmai stepped into the bathtub and lay down in it, relaxing.
All the windows in the White Tower used one-way glass, so there was no need to worry about being seen from the outside, especially since Chen Ci's bedroom was on the 16th floor.
The sky was gradually getting dark, and the last rays of sunlight came in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on the floor, walls, and Chen Nian's eyelashes.
He stared at the sunset in the sky in fascination. The overlapping colors blended together to form a scene that could not be described in words. This was a sunset that he would never see in the underground city.
As the sun sank, Chen Nian could not help but stand up. He leaned on the edge of the bathtub as if he was going to chase the sun.
The red wine flowed over the Omega's white neck and collarbone, or passed through the glands along the back of the neck, slid down the smooth back, and finally sank into the water.
Under Chen Nian's gaze, the setting sun seemed to really leap down and suddenly sink. The moment it was blocked by the horizon, the last of the light disappeared.
But then more lights appeared from the ground.
Countless street lights were lit, outlining the contours of the streets, the lights of the flying buses, the outlines of buildings, the lights in strangers' homes...so bright under the deep night sky, reflected on the transparent glass, and also reflected in Chen Nian's amber eyes.
Chen Nian finally couldn't bear it anymore and stood up.
An urgent desire surged from the bottom of his heart, stronger than ever before - he wanted to see more and truly be under the night sky.
Chen Nianmai got out of the bathtub, walked to the shower, and quickly rinsed the alcohol off his body with clean water.
He came out of the bathroom barefoot, and the robotic arm quickly approached and wrapped him in the softest bath towel.
Chen Nian Gu couldn't wait until his hair was dry and said, "I want to go out."
Smart Butler: "Sorry, you cannot leave the White Tower without permission."
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that.
Chen Nian sighed and asked, "How can I get out?"
"You will need to obtain permission to go out, or be accompanied by His Royal Highness, Lord Shafley."
Chen Nian thought for a few seconds and said crisply:
"Put me in touch with Shafla."